Three 20-something entrepreneurs just launched an Airbnb for refugees

(L-R) , Jamal Oulel (25), Ayoub Aouragh (24), and Germaine Statia (23) set up Refugeehero.com.
Germaine Statia/Facebook
Europe is in the midst of the worst refugee crisis in decades, with over four million Syrian refugees fleeing their country's civil war and many coming to Europe for shelter.

The Dutch have been among the most welcoming in Europe, with public projects to support refugees, and now three Netherlands-based entrepreneurs have set up an "Airbnb for refugees."

Germaine Statia, 23, Jamal Oulel, 25, and Ayoub Aouragh, 24, have set up Refugeehero.com, a website that lets people advertise spare rooms for refugees to stay in.

"We want to give back humanity to mankind," says Germaine Statia in a statement sent to Business Insider.

The website is not for profit, social startup. Refugeehero.com plans to get funding from municipalities in the Netherlands. Jamal Oulel says: "Government institutions in the Netherlands alone spent €495 million in 2014 to accommodate refugees."

The website operates pretty much like Airbnb. People, called "heroes", offer up spare rooms in their homes for refugees to temporarily stay in:

Refugeehero.com

The mobile-friendly website includes private residential listings, as well as organisations opening up their facilities, such as churches, mosques, schools and universities.

Refugees can check where is available, when, and who has space:

Refugeehome.com

The three founders say they hope Refugee Hero will become much more than just a platform for refugees to find shelter on.

"We want the heroes to help the refugees find their way in a new, strange country," says Ayoub Aouragh.

"This means Refugee Hero will grow to become a platform facilitating all important aspects linked to migration. This varies from helping refugees find a new school for their children or even arranging social security and applying for a passport."